Metropolitan Center for Independent Living

How do people with disabilities Minnesota rate their community’s implementation of the Americans with Disabilities Act?

ADA Minnesota, in conjunction with the DBTAC: Great Lakes ADA Center, is conducting “The ADA in Your Community” Survey to find out the answer to this question!

The Americans with Disabilities Act (the ADA) was signed into law in 1990 – twenty years have passed for communities to remove physical, programmatic, and attitudinal barriers that prevent people with disabilities from becoming active participating citizens. A great deal of progress has been made, but there is still need for further compliance. “The ADA in Your Community” Survey asks Minnesota citizens to identify how they view their community’s current implementation. There is also opportunity for them to provide opinions and ideas about how accessibility can be improved.

People with disabilities, their family members, and their advocates are invited to complete the ADA Survey so that their voices are heard when accessibility issues are being addressed in their communities! The Survey is available online at: www.TheADASurvey.org.Print copies and alternative formats are available on request.

To request the ADA Survey in an alternative format, or for additional information, contact Cindy Tarshish by phone: 651-603-2015 or e-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

“The ADA in Your Community” Survey is a project of the DBTAC: Great Lakes ADA Center and is being implemented in five other states beyond Minnesota: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin. The ADA Survey’s purpose is to provide a place where voices of people with disabilities, family members, and advocates can be heard. The ADA Survey is being conducted by staff from the Indiana University’s Institute on Disability and Community, Center for Planning and Policy Studies.

Derrick Dawson has been working with MCIL for about two years and in that time he has made some huge steps forward.   He is more involved in his community.  Derrick participates in MCIL activities, including Peer Mentoring, Social Night, Sign Language class, Computer Lab and Bus Training. He works at Office Max as a stocker, taking items from the pallets and puts them on the sales floor. He also participates in Epilepsy Foundation activities.